ERID Venture Project 2019

Collection
Design Strategy (MBA) | Design Division

Course
Spring 2019Venture StudioRobert von Goeben, Brett Hazlett, Joan BodensteinerDSMBA-608-02
Venture project
Student(s)
Maya Lawrence, Norinne Cheng, Chi-ching Ou, Shraddha Padwal, Joanie Hudson
Description
Our Venture project focused on developing a viable solution for residential, single-source greywater reuse in arid regions of the Western United States.

ERID’s H2x reduces residential water consumption through a single-point source greywater system for single family homes. Approaching both the new home and residential remodel sectors, we will focus initially on California in order to capitalize on opportunities for scale and market concentration. H2x is an innovative Laundry to Landscape (L2L) greywater system, which incorporates particle filtration, removal of excess salts, and other chemical compounds; as well as water quality testing and monitoring to allow users to safely redirect waste water from home washers to become a source of irrigation for lawns, gardens, and green spaces. 

The growth rate of water prices in the US is increasing faster than the rate of inflation (1.9%, USA 2018), making water utility costs for single family homes a pressing issue. Access, distribution, and consistent availability of freshwater is also putting pressure on municipalities to incorporate water consumption reduction and water reuse into their short and medium range planning for residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural sectors. In the residential sector, self-sustaining homes will become more valuable as freshwater demand exceeds supply amidst a growing backdrop of community sustainability measures and the growth in clean technology systems. California - a perennial leader in solutions for sustainability and lifestyle appliances - continues its trend of strained freshwater water resources and population growth. Sustainable building is increasingly important statewide, and regulatory trends are leaning towards increasing sustainability measures.

Our Solution: The biggest considerations in addressing customer pain points are (1) rising cost of water (steadily increasing by an average of 9.6% since 2010); (2) information overload; (3) lack of efficient/effective solutions; (4) resistance to behavior change; (5) constraints against changing home space; and (6) confidence in water output quality.

Product Name - H2x: The H2x by ERID provides a way for users to cost-effectively recycle water without negatively impacting their homes or lifestyle. We accomplish this through the ease of installation and use, minimization of maintenance, unobtrusive and aesthetically pleasing design, and by working through channel partnerships with trusted on-site irrigation consultants. Unlike existing alternatives, we provide a better manufactured solution that will make it easy for customers to adopt greywater reuse as a means to conserve water and stay in front of rising utility costs. We will position ourselves around key experiences of Harmony, Trust, and Freedom.

Product Features: The H2x directly connects laundry to landscape by cleaning and filtering laundry waste water before it is fed into the home’s drip irrigation system. Water passes through (1) inflow chamber with initial water testing and smart 3-way valve; (2) particle filtration; (3) chemical filtration; (4) outflow chamber with secondary water testing and smart 3-way valve. An unobtrusive and aesthetically pleasing external casing with easy to read LCD display screen allows for direct monitoring and easy maintenance access, and a smart home app offers remote system monitoring and analytics.

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